


Seventh Rule of the Salvager's Code

by Ajur



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Genre: Angst, Gen, LLF Comment Project, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 15:11:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13954266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ajur/pseuds/Ajur
Summary: “I'll punch him in his stupid face. And then... Probably get a drink with him or something."That's what he'd said, but maybe he hadn't quite expected it to actually happen.





	Seventh Rule of the Salvager's Code

**Author's Note:**

> I'm surprised nobody else seems to have done this. I thought I'd come into fandom and find a bunch of fics using this prompt that the game itself so kindly handed out. Oh well—I'll be the trailblazer. 
> 
> Fun fact: I started working on this before I even started planning for Paths Divergent. It took an absurdly long time to complete. 
> 
> Thanks to Lonetaku for helping me find words and stuff. It was sorely necessary.

_“I'll punch him in his stupid face. And then... Probably get a drink with him or something."_

That's what he'd said, but…

“Oi, brat! You're the one who insisted on this. Stop dragging your feet!“ 

...maybe he hadn't quite expected it to actually happen. 

With a sigh, Rex trotted after Malos. Everyone else had ditched him, too. Nia'd mumbled something about this being his problem, Tora had been suspiciously absent, Mòrag and Zeke were wrapped up in state affairs, and Gramps had given him a small speech about being responsible and keeping his promises. He knew that much. Seventh rule of the salvager's code: 'Only a novice doesn't keep a promise.' Pyra and Mythra had simply said that they didn't think it would be a good idea for them to come along. 

So, here he was, following the Aegis to his hometown's cafe, taking him out on a drink. Or being taken out on a drink. Or neither, since he wasn't even old enough to drink in the first place. Did it count as being taken out on drinks when it wasn't alcohol?

“Hey! Are you coming?“

“Almost sounds like you're looking forward to it.“ Rex dodged a piece of fallen debris as he caught up. There was a lot of that these days. Colliding with the true Elysium hadn't only caused buildings to collapse, it had also destabilised the Titans' very structure. Leftheria hadn't been affected as much as some of the others, but Fonsett hadn't been spared either. 

Malos pushed the door open and stalked inside. “Looking forward to getting it over with so you'll stop _nagging_.“ 

The cafe, taken over by Maxello after Indol had fallen, was sparsely populated. The only other patrons were some village elders playing card games. Typical. Nothing ever bothered them enough to skip their weekly games. 

Malos had already marched over to the far end of the room and was now glaring at him. He'd been doing that a lot since leaving Elysium. 

“So, uh… want me to go get something to drink?“ Was Maxello eyeing them? He was definitely eyeing them. Not that Rex could blame him. Even with the armor covering the core crystal again Malos was eyecatching, and the two of them made an odd duo. 

“I don't care. You're the one who's paying. Pick whatever you want, or don't.“

Rex scratched his head. How was he supposed to order for someone he knew nothing about? For all he knew Malos might hate whatever he'd end up picking. “Anything you like in particular? Or not at all?“ 

“Are you deaf? I said I don't care! Get on with it!“ Malos drummed his fingers on the table. One of the card players looked up from their game and towards their table. 

“Uh… okay then. I'll be right back.“ Rex left Malos to his devices and headed for the counter. It looked a little worse for the wear, chipped as it was. Maybe the collision had made something heavy fall on it. 

One of the elders stopped him on the way. “Hey, Rex… is everything alright? If you need help…“ 

“Huh? Oh, no, no, everything's alright. Don't worry.“

Not that Rex could blame them for being concerned. Malos positively radiated anger. It would have been hard not to notice. 

Hmm, Maxello had started offering Indoline Tea. Malos had lived there for a while, hadn't he? Maybe that would work. He picked up the tea, along with water for himself, and went back to their table. 

Without looking at him, Malos snatched the tea from his hand and took a sip. 

“So...“ Rex started. Now that they were actually there, he didn't know what to say. What did you tell someone who hated the entire world and especially himself so much that he wanted to destroy it all? 

The silence stretched uncomfortably. Apparently Malos wasn't planning on saying anything either.

“How are you?“ 

Malos put the cup back on the table so heavily Rex was surprised nothing spilled. Maybe that hadn't been the best way to start a conversation. “What kind of question is that?“

“I don't know. I'm just trying to get a conversation going.“ He did want to know how Malos was doing, though. After everything that had happened, wasn't it reasonable to be concerned about him?

“What is this really about, huh? Are you seriously expecting me to believe that after everything that happened—everything I've _done_ —all you want to do is smalltalk? What do you want?“

“Well, yes. Salvager rule six—“

“Oh, cut the bullshit!“ Malos slammed his fist on the table. Tea sloshed out of the cup. The other patrons had started staring again, Rex noticed out of the corner of his eyes. “I'm not buying it. I don't know _what_ you want, but if you're going to sit here and waste my time, I'm leaving.“ 

Rex was tempted to ask what he wanted to do instead, seeing how he didn't seem to have done anything at all since they'd left Elysium, but somehow he didn't think that was a very good idea. “It's just like I said, back there.“

“Be more specific. Since you never stop talking, I have no idea what you're referring to.“

“Well...“ Rex put his own drink down. “The world's never going to change if nobody takes the first step, right? And that's what I want to do. Take the first step, and break the cycle of pain and suffering.“

“By taking me out for drinks.“ Malos' voice was thick with incredulity. “You're not making any sense, boy. How is any of this supposed to change anything?“

Now that they were talking freely… or at least more freely than they ever had, Malos turned out to be surprisingly dense, Rex thought. “It's obvious, isn't it? This is what change looks like! It starts with people doing things for other people.“

By the look on Malos' face, it wasn't obvious to him at all. 

“Just think about it. People are what the world is, aren't they? It's not the Cloud Sea, or Morytha, or even the World Tree, it's people. So if people change, the world changes!“ 

“I've lived for five hundred years, boy, and if there's one thing I learned, it's that people never change. No matter what, they always stay the same. Is this weak-ass tea supposed to convince me otherwise?“ Malos pointedly shoved the cup away from himself. 

Man, he really wasn't getting it, was he. 

“It's not about the drinks. It's about coming together and finding a way to move forward, and, well… you look like you need a little help with that.“ Rex didn't quite know how to bring it up. Ever since coming back Malos had done nothing but snap at people and wander around aimlessly. It was understandable, given the situation, but still. 

“Oh, and that surprises you? You broke me again so I can't fulfill my purpose anymore, and the people I promised to fulfill it to are all dead anyway so it doesn't even matter. Pray tell, what _am_ I supposed to do now? Why did you even leave me alive?“

“What? I never wanted to kill you, I only wanted you to stop trying to kill everyone else!“ 

“I killed your friend. I tried my damnedest to destroy Mythra. Do you even know how many people I murdered five hundred years ago? Are you seriously asking me why you should have killed me?“ Malos' voice steadily grew louder as he spoke. By the end he was nearly shouting. 

“Well…“ Rex looked down. “It's… not easy to forgive that, you're right. But someone has to. All of this only started because Amalthus couldn't forgive the world. I don't want to be like that.“

Malos' shoulders tensed. “I could have stopped at any time, but I didn't. I kept going, and I don't regret anything except that I couldn't finish my mission. And you're telling me you're just going to let everything— _everything_ slide?“

“Yes.“

With a single backhanded swipe, Malos knocked his cup off the table. It shattered on the floor. Tea splattered on the wood. “Why are you like that? I'm the epitome of everything that's wrong with this world. And yet you sit there and talk about forgiving me, as if your pretty little words make even one damn iota of difference!“

“Hey, you can't—“ Maxello approached them cautiously. The look Malos gave him made him wither away. 

“You can shut up. I won't trash this shithole you call a cafe. It's not like I _could_ , anyway.“ Before Rex could stop him, Malos stalked over to the door and slammed it shut behind himself. 

Maxello shook his head. “Who was that, Rex, and why did you bring him here?“

“He's a friend.“ There was no way Malos would agree to that assessment, and Rex had to admit it didn't exactly _look_ like friendship, but he really didn't feel like explaining to Maxello. Besides, who was to say it wouldn't happen eventually?

There was an unspoken _Are you really sure about that?_ in the air, but Rex chose to ignore it. “I'll clean that up and then I'll go after him.“ 

 

~

 

Rex found Malos sitting on a rock at the outskirts of the village, staring out at the sea. Even though he had to have heard him approach, he didn't turn around.

“You're still not done blabbering? Don't you see it's pointless?“ 

“I don't think you're the epitome of everything that's wrong with this world. And I don't think _they_ did either.“ Rex sat down in the grass next to him. 

“Then they're stupid, just like you. And why does it matter what they thought? They're all dead. Useless lumps of meat, probably burned to ash when the World Tree fell.“ Malos turned his head in a stiff, jerky motion and looked at him. His eyes were cold. 

“How can you say that? They were your friends!“

Rex remembered what he'd felt when Vandham had died, and during that brief time when he'd thought he'd lost Pyra and Mythra forever. The feeling of not being able to breathe, of choking over the knowledge that they were gone—didn't Malos feel the same? 

“So what if they were? They got what they wanted, and they didn't deserve anything better anyway.“

“Malos—“

“No, don't give me any of your crap! We're _bad people_ , don't you get that? Stop pretending that you can fix us and turn us into nice wellbehaved goody two shoes!“ Malos's voice was clipped, full of anger. 

“Maybe I can't do that, but I can forgive you and offer you a hand, to move forward together.“ And if he had to repeat it a thousand times to get through to Malos then Architect help him he would. 

“What does it take for you to understand that you can't save me? If I raze your precious hometown to the ground, are you going to stop pretending your words matter? Oh, but wait—“ Malos barked a laugh. “Can't do that anymore, just like everything else!“

Malos's hand gripped on the rock so tightly Rex wouldn't be surprised if his fingers actually indented it. His knuckles were stark white. It looked like he'd rather be punching something.

Rex should probably do something to prevent that.

“Why won't you listen to me, Malos?“

“Because you keep saying the same shit! You go on and on and _on_ about people changing. When are you going to realise that doesn't happen? People don't change! Face reality!“

Rex ran his fingers through his hair. Again with that. Malos had said the same earlier. Was he even trying to understand? It felt like he was talking to a wall! A wall that had the gall to deny all the changes they'd all gone through!

“I can change, you can change, everyone can change. And if it's too hard to do on your own, why don't you let me help you? I promised you I'd change the world, and I'm not about to leave a part of it behind just because it's not easy. So how about _you_ shut up and stop dragging your feet for a change!“

Malos stared at him. 

Rex sat back down (he hadn't even noticed he'd jumped up) and felt his face grow hot. He hadn't meant to yell. “Uh...“

Something unexpected happened. Malos started to laugh, and not the bitter, angry kind he'd used before. There was genuine amusement in his voice now. 

“Let me get this straight, kid. I talk about burning your hometown to the ground and all you have to say is 'Why don't you listen to me?', but me saying people don't change makes you angry? You've got strange priorities.“

Some of the tenseness had left Malos' body. Apparently yelling at him had done the job. Or part of it at least. Malos was weird. 

Once again Rex found himself unsure what to say. Had he finally managed to change Malos's mind? Or did he just find Rex funny enough to be distracted by it? Architect, he was hard to read. 

“So, a promise, huh?“ There was a pensive tone to Malos's voice. 

“Well, yeah, that's—“

“You're the most sickeningly naive brat I've ever had the misfortune to meet in all my years. Shut up, I'm not done talking. I don't understand you. I don't get why you believe in this bullshit so much, or why you care so much, or why you're willing to…" His voice trailed off and he was silent for a moment before speaking up again. "And your nonsense promise rings hollow, but if you think I'll let you take it back you're mistaken.“

“Then let me promise again! I swear I'll change this world for the better, no matter how hard it gets.“ Rex held out a hand. Malos eyed it dubiously, then grabbed it. Ouch. Did he have to grip so tightly?

“I'll hold you to it.“

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading all the way to the end. There's something I'd like to address now that you're here. I have no way of knowing what exactly a reader is trying to communicate if they leave kudos without a comment. Different people leave them for different reasons, ranging from "I loved this" to "I give kudos to everything I finish" and everything in between, and it's impossible for me to tell where they fall on that spectrum. As a result, whenever I get kudos without comments, my reaction isn't "Hey, somebody liked my fic", but "I don't know what you mean by that". 
> 
> I really want to understand how people feel about my writing! So, if you're up for it, I'd greatly appreciate if you could leave a comment to clarify what exactly you meant. A short "I liked this" or "Please write more like this" or whatever else you left kudos for is more than enough, if you don't feel like leaving a long comment (though I certainly won't complain if you do write more than that!)
> 
> * * *
> 
> This story is part of [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), whose goal is to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites:  
> 
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